John Slattery plays Roger Sterling in AMC's original series Mad Men.
John Slattery plays Roger Sterling in AMC's original series Mad Men.

John Slattery plays Roger Sterling in AMC's original series Mad Men.
John Slattery plays Roger Sterling in AMC's original series Mad Men.

Photo: AMC

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"Mad Men" main character Don Draper (Jon Hamm).

"Mad Men" main character Don Draper (Jon Hamm).

Photo: Frank Ockenfels, AMC

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January Jones as Betty Draper and Jon Hamm as Don Draper in AMC's Mad Men.

January Jones as Betty Draper and Jon Hamm as Don Draper in AMC's Mad Men.

Photo: AMC

TV review: 'Mad Men' returns in all its glory

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Mad Men: Drama. 10 p.m. Sundays on AMC.

Beyond being the finest series on television, "Mad Men" is both ambitious and exquisite, two of the ultimate rarities in the business. The Season 3 premiere on Sunday begins and ends with two wonderfully conceived and executed scenes and, when the hour closes, it leaves no doubt about its lofty goals. "Mad Men" wants to be indelibly brilliant. And after two seasons of accomplishing just that, there's no reason given in the premiere to have any doubts about the third.

And yet, all the elements are in place for someone, somewhere, to start a backlash, just because there's joy in going against the cultural zeitgeist. Without being named directly, "Mad Men" was the poster series for an Emmy backlash to limit the exposure of "niche" series. By being a critical darling but seen by a relatively small audience, "Mad Men" was the boutique choice that took home the statue for best drama and then returned this year to get 16 more nominations and is, in all likelihood, the odds-on favorite to repeat.

Someone is going to be jealous about that. And because "Mad Men" is essentially a slow character study of one man's existential crisis - the drama is mostly in the dialogue - it's almost predictable that someone will slash at the gauzy genius, or take offense at all the media attention and savvy promotion. In short, "Mad Men" is ripe for a takedown.

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Don't fall for that. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and the good folks of Sterling Cooper remain as strong as ever in tough fictional times. If you're late to the hype, get Season 1 and decide for yourself. That Season 2 was able to continue on a top-tier creative path while also taking chances (Don's sojourn to the light-filled Southern California clime being the most obvious and delicious) should motivate you to continue seeking out its greatness.

More lovely angst

What does Season 3 aim for? Here's a wild, wild guess: more existential angst for one Don Draper. And why not? The audience found out a lot more about his hidden past in Season 2, which also let various other characters - notably wife Betty (January Jones) - blossom. But it would be naive to think that everyone - anyone, for that matter - will come clean on "Mad Men." They all have a past, if not as complicated as Don's. And if you thought Don's magician-like ability to survive karma and conscience last season was going to last, well, you're watching the wrong show.

When we last saw Don and Betty as a couple, they had barely weathered Don's affair (the one that Betty knows about), while Betty's will probably join the countless unspoken secrets of "Mad Men." The final scene was Betty telling Don, with some frailty and begrudging obligation, that she was pregnant. The two held hands in a scene that, like many from the series, played out with studied patience.

Season 3, which begins roughly six months later (you should be able to figure that out from Betty's belly) opens with a shot of Don's feet (pay attention later in the episode for something similar, particularly if you like metaphors - and "Mad Men" is rife with them). Moments after that shot, we get perhaps the most complex scene the series has attempted, which falls short of a dream sequence but goes beyond a flashback. It's an audacious beginning and alerts fans that series creator Matthew Weiner (who wrote the episode) and his staff are not going to be complacent in their storytelling.

And yet, though no doubt there will be more issues and plotlines ahead, Season 3 looks to be homing in on Don's inability to distance himself from his past. He can't escape his own skin. In short: more of the same. "I keep going to a lot of places and ending up somewhere I've already been," Don says.

Not for the masses

Because this existential crisis is the crux of the show, it needs to be rigorously explored. But an argument could be made that with all the accolades and scrutiny, a less-assured hand might have tried to make "Mad Men" more accessible or something that it's not. This is a series truly not made for mass consumption, Emmy wins and nominations and magazine covers aside.

All the elements "Mad Men" does well - the humor, the note-perfect clothing and sets, the creeping cultural change - are still there to be savored. But what the series traffics in with astute complexity is the troubling notion of self, of identity, of rootless, undefined purpose and unrealized happiness.

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